Liberal Liberals: The Demise & Rise of Social Conservatism in Australia

What has become of the Liberal Party in Australia?!

“Liberal” doesn’t just mean free, or generous. In politics it usually means the opposite of “conservative”; abandoning traditional morals and values to be trendy and rushing in to change for the sake of change itself. And Liberal this political party truly is becoming.

The latest headline seeker of the liberal conservatives in the Liberal Party of Australia is Warren Entsch. “For 10 years, he has campaigned against his own party’s position on same-sex marriage and promoted a private member’s bill in support of gay marriage (although he drew the line at supporting the Greens on the issue). The subject of gays caused him to go into party discipline meltdown and traduce the reputation of a colleague with smears, exaggeration and innuendo.

This is despicable, and there is a subtext to this. After the Coalition won government last year, Tony Abbott dropped Entsch from the position of chief whip. And Entsch is friendly with Malcolm Turnbull, who is openly contemptuous of Bernardi. Entsch even mentioned Turnbull in his attack on Bernardi, saying Turnbull had been raised by his single father and was not a lesser person for that.” […single parents* is a red-herring which logic-lacking lefties love to lob.]

The parade of hate & bigotry being an interesting issue in its own right, and a good read in the linked (bizarrely) balanced article; but what I’d like to highlight is how a conservative party such as the once poorly named Liberal Party become a party so full of liberals who actively seek to undermine families by redefining the timeless institution of marriage.

I wish to formally apologise to Australia for ever voting Liberal/National first, and lead the path to reform by pledging to prioritise minor parties which champion socially-critical, traditional, family values such as life and marriage, above both the major parties on offer in Australia which increasingly abandon and regard lightly the values most critical to our success as a nation.

It is absolutely time for serious reflection, not just for upcoming by-elections, but to never again take for granted that any political party is the best place for your vote simply because it insists it is or because you’ve always voted for them. Seriously review and interview the minor parties and all local candidates, and clearly communicate that life and marriage your family’s most important issues.

*Speaking of families deliberately denied a father:“We know the statistics – that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioural problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it.” – President Barack Obama, Father’s Day speech, 2008.

The Australian “Liberal National Chat Page” on Facebook suggested in response, “A political party serves more than one person and one need. The beauty of the Liberals is dissent/ differing opinions is allowed. Their duty is to serve the majority in this admin’s opinion. No party can ever please every single person. So, as the Liberals freely allow voices have you considered joining them so your voice is better heard?”

I replied, “Thanks. More than joined, I have successfully directed and won a campaign in an “unwinnable” seat. The influence and voice even this gives you after years of faithful loyalty and significant participation is insignificant, and my observation from immersion is that the grass roots’ values are entirely ignored for the opportunism of the elite.

Yes, I of course prefer a Liberal Government to a Labor Government, but have concluded that they are more likely to value an exodus of party-faithful like myself as the socially-conservative majority within are ignored while clowns like Turnbull, Entsch, Roy, and now Glasson are given a platform for their marginal anti-marriage relativism.

The fact of the party processes is that no matter how popular and strongly argued policies and motions are, unless the parliamentary members agree and carry the can, a branch, state, federal or conference motion/policy is impotent and ineffective without the consent of the likes of our lefty liberal friends named above who are fast building a majority in the party increasingly comfortable for lefty liberalism. Alas, being a loyal member is vastly unrewarding and ineffective.

Then check out the “social justice” and “family values” of the deafening silence of the Liberal Party in every state on the issue of abortion. Our glorious party of social conservatives oversees the worst abortion laws in the world, and conservatives like me sleep in blissful ignorance of the worst human rights atrocity of recent centuries being conducted clinically in our own communities. 90,000 a year in Australia; 50,000,000 a year world wide.

I implicitly trust the Liberal/Nationals with the economy, security, environment and industry – but when it comes to the most important issue, my family, I am left shaking my head in disbelief at the action & inaction of the party which I once hoped best represented family values.

You are correct that a party serves more than one person and need. And if the party is to truly serve the greater good, and everybody has/needs a family, what better place to start and finish then to serve the building blocks of every successful society: successful, thriving, healthy families.

I would dearly, dearly, dearly love to be proven wrong – or to be effective in my campaign to awaken the sleeping members to the impotency of their voice until they replace the liberal Liberals with true conservatives, or demand conservative representation on vitally important social values.”

About The Author

Dave helps businesses, churches & ministries communicate better. He holds a graduate certificate in Applied Ministry, and as well as leading teams in his local church, has been strategically involved at an executive level with major and minor political parties and many campaigns.

Stay Tuned For

The topics I'll be addressing in this blog will be practical teaching designed to resource believers and church leaders in better understanding how politics works in Australia, and how the Church works in politics (and vice versa).

These will include:
• Separation of Church & State?
• Australia's Christian Identity
• Prolific Politics in the Bible
• Love Like the Good Samaritan
• Preach It, Nehemiah
• The Australian Political System
• How Jesus Would Vote
• The Importance of Prayer